India : Karnataka State grid to get additional 1,500 MW

The third unit of the Ballari Thermal Power Station (BTPS) and the first unit of the Yermarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS), with a generation capacity of 700 MW and 800 MW respectively, are expected to start functioning in August.

The two units will add an additional 1,500 MW to the State grid.

Disclosing this to presspersons here on Monday, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) Managing Director G. Kumar Nayak said that work at the units was almost done and both are expected to be ready in the next 15-20 days.

The second unit of the YTPS may also be ready by September, adding another 800 MW of power, Mr. Nayak informed.

A sum of Rs. 4,686 crore had been spent on the BTPS third unit while Rs. 11,333 crore had been invested on the two units of YTPS.

He also said that the work on the State’s first gas-based power station with a generation capacity of 370 MW, which is coming up at Yelahanka in Bengaluru, has commenced and is expected to be ready by May 2018.

The total installed capacity in the State was 6,523.90 MW from thermal, hydro, diesel, solar and wind, with 120 operating units.

The installed capacity of thermal plants alone was 2,720 MW while that of hydro power generation was 3,667.35 MW. From all sources of renewable energy, the generation is around 28.56 MW. However, over the years, hydro power generation has been on the decline while the thermal power generation had shot up.

Thermal power generation has gone up from 10,434.12 million units in 2010-11 to 16,148.75 million units in 2015-16.

Likewise, the hydro power generation has dropped from 10,540.58 million units in 2010-11 to 7,241.09 units in 2015-16, according to statistics from the KPCL.

About 30 million units of power had been generated harnessing solar energy in 2015-16, which was better when compared to the generation in 2010-11 which was 7.17 million units.

The installed capacity from all sources has gone up from 5,999.90 million units in 2010-11 to 6,523.90 million units in 2015-16, Mr. Nayak disclosed.

Mr. Nayak said that the Bidadi Combined Cycle Power plant, with an installed capacity of 700 MW at a cost of Rs. 2,500 crore, and the Edlapur thermal power station, with 800 MW capacity at an estimated investment of Rs. 4,960 crore, are among the new KPCL projects. If the new projects are realised, an additional 3,120 MW of power will be added to the grid, making Karnataka one of the States with surplus energy in the next five years, he explained.